Accession - UAA-1989-083

Donald Cameron was born in Devonport, England in 1901. His father, Donald Cameron Sr.,an engineer with the British Admiralty, moved the family to Alberta in 1906. The Camerons settled on a farm at Elnora, near Innisfail. Donald Cameron Sr. was elected as a United Farmer of Alberta member of the Alberta Legislature for Innisfail in 1921. The issues of farm organization and co-operation interested Donald Cameron Jr. as well, and he became president of the Junior U.F.A. and in 1926, received a scholarship from the provincial department of Agriculture to attend the University of Alberta. Cameron graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture in 1930, and received his Master's of Science degree in Agriculture in 1934. His thesis was on "Harvesting Methods in Relation to Quality in Wheat". In 1939, the University of British Columbia presented him with an honorary L.L.D. degree.

Donald Cameron was offered a position in 1929 as a lecturer and agricultural secretary with the U of A's Department of Extension. His job involved editing agricultural bulletins, answering farmers' inquiries, and travelling throughout the province lecturing on various agricultural topics and issues. During the summer of 1933, Cameron was sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation as a travelling scholar to study adult education in England, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany and France. He was later involved with establishing, for the Extension Department, a series of two-week long Youth Training Schools in small towns throughout the province. Young people from these rural communities were offered sessions in physical training, woodworking, home economics and academic subjects.

In 1934, Cameron was appointed Assistant Director of Extension, was made Acting Director in 1935, and Director in 1936. As Director of Extension, Cameron also assumed responsibility for the fledgling Banff School of Fine Arts. The Banff School was established initially in 1933 as a Carnegie grant-funded summer school in dramatics. In 1936, a master class in piano and a painting group were added to the curriculum, and the focus of the Banff School became adult education in the fine arts. While Cameron resigned as Director of Extension in 1956, he remained on as Director of the Banff School until 1969. The success and growth of the Banff School as it evolved from a small extension program to a fine arts, business administration and conference centre of international reputation can be attributed largely to Cameron's perseverance, determination and directorship. The records certainly confirm the importance Cameron attached to the Banff School; he had duplicates of all BSF A and BSAM correspondence forwarded to his Ottawa office, he was involved in all levels of decision making at the school, and he travelled regularly between his Ottawa and Banff offices.

While on Senate related travel and business, the Banff Schools of Fine Arts and Advanced Management were frequently mentioned by Cameron. He was continuously on the lookout for prospective instructors, funding sources, and ways of making the school more widely known.Cameron was appointed to the Canadian Senate in July of 1955 by Prime Minister Louis St. Laurant. He sat as an Independent Liberal until failing health forced him to resign in 1987. As a senator, he was a member of the Canadian government delegation to the Ninth General Conference UNESCO in New Delhi (1956), was leader of the Canadian delegation to the 1960 UNESCO Conference in Montreal, and leader of the Canadian delegation attending the Ninth Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Kuala Lumpur in 1963. He was appointed Chairman of the Royal Commission on Education in Alberta in 1958, and was vice-chairman of a senate committee on science policy from 1968-1976. While he did retire as Director of the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1969, his presence at Banff continued to be felt in his roles as Director Emeritus of the Banff School of Fine Arts, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Banff School of Advanced Management from 1969-1975. Cameron regularly organized annual tours to far-reaching parts of the globe (Europe, Asia, the Arctic, etc.) for BSAM students and alumni.

In addition to his Banff concerns and senate duties, Cameron wrote numerous speeches and talks, and published five books. He served as Director of the Rocky Mountain Plaza Co-operative; was Chairman and a member of the du Maurier Council for the Performing Arts from 1972 to ca. 1983; acted as an educational consultant for "Performing Arts" magazine; and served as first Chairman of the United World Colleges Committee (1962-1972). Cameron was on the Board of Directors for the National Film Society, 1936-1950, and a member of the National Film Board, 1943-1950. As well as serving on other arts and adult education related committees, Cameron was a frequently invited speaker to numerous conferences, symposiums and functions. He represented Western National Parks interests in a series of discussions and meetings with Paul Martin regarding Federal Government National Park policy, and he was a prolific correspondent. Cameron wrote many letters to many people; his dictaphone even accompanied him on his occasional hospital stays. The correspondence files provide a very rich source of information about Donald Cameron and his many involvement's and interests.

Donald Cameron was married to Stella Mary Ewing in 1932. Their one daughter, Mary Jean, was born in 1945. Cameron remained active with the senate and other interests until about 1984 when ill-health confined him to the Bethany Care Auxilliary hospital in Calgary. He died there in February of 1989.